Greenfield Savings Bank names senior vice president in charge of wealth management, trust services
GREENFIELD—Greenfield Savings Bank has announced that Rebecca M. Makas has joined the bank as senior vice president overseeing GSB wealth management and trust services. Makas brings more than two decades of experience in financial services and has a background spanning trust services, investment management and banking leadership. She previously served in senior roles at Prudential Financial, including vice president positions in national platform distribution, trust and investment products and as treasurer and Community Reinvestment officer for Prudential Bank & Trust, FSB.
Most recently, Makas was founder/principal of RM2WH, a real estate investment company, and a broker associate with Keller Williams Legacy Partners, experience that fine-tuned her entrepreneurial knowledge and commitment to helping individuals build and manage wealth. In the community, Makas serves as a board member and director of programming for All In Recovery Homes LLC. She is also involved in volunteer efforts through the creation of handmade quilts for children in foster care and participants in grief support programs.
Makas holds a chartered financial analyst designation and earned both a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. Originally from Williamstown, she expressed enthusiasm about returning to the region and contributing to the community through her work at Greenfield Savings Bank.
MassHire to highlight job openings at Franklin Transit Management
GREENFIELD — On Tuesday, Aug. 25, from 10 a.m. to noon, MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center will host Franklin Transit Management at the Greenfield office, located at 101 Munson St., suite 101.
Located at 3 Sandy Lane in Turners Falls, the organization has openings for the following roles: transit bus operator, non-CDL bus operator and utility workers. For those with questions, email bizteam@masshirefhcareers.org or call 413-774-4361.
Greater Greenfield Chamber of Commerce seeks nominees for inaugural awards
GREENFIELD — The Greater Greenfield Chamber of Commerce has launched its inaugural GBA Buzz Awards to celebrate exceptional local businesses and nonprofits, with nominations open to the entire business community across four categories. The top five nominees in each category will be voted on by GBA Investors, and the winners will be revealed during the “Greenfield Business on Tap & GBA Buzz Awards” event on Tuesday, Sept. 29, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Four Phantoms Brewing in Greenfield. To vote, visit bit.ly/4x4xMHF. For more information, email GBA.4Greenfield@gmail.com.
Loomis adds three board members, makes appointments
SOUTH HADLEY — The Loomis Communities, the longest-serving provider of senior living in the Pioneer Valley, has announced three new members to its board of directors: Zachary Steigmeyer, assistant vice president in commercial lending at PeoplesBank; Dr. Kevin Whitney, president and chief operating officer of Cooley Dickinson Hospital; and Frances M. Bancroft, Applewood in Amherst resident who is a retired learning products specialist.
The organization also announced Deborah Snow, former owner of Blue Heron Restaurant and Catering, as board chair and Sanford (Sandy) Belden, Loomis Village resident and retired CEO of Community Bank System, as vice chair.
Steigmeyer has been with PeoplesBank for more than five years. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in economics, where he also played Division 1 Men’s Ice Hockey and was a National Champion in 2021. A resident of Ludlow, Steigmeyer also serves as an assistant coach for Women’s Ice Hockey at Amherst College, and does volunteer work with the Special Olympics and local food pantries.
Whitney earned his doctor of nursing practice from the MGH Institute of Health Professions, a Master of Arts, Health Care Administration, from Framingham State University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and an Associate of Science in Paramedic Technology from Northeastern University.
Bancroft served as the vice chair of the Applewood residents association Executive Committee, chair of the Nominating Committee, and coordinator for the community’s Meditation Group. A retired learning products specialist with experience in education, communications and technology organizations, Bancroft worked at Philips, Agilent Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, and also served as a communications consultant for Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum.
Snow, who has served on the Loomis Communities board of directors since 2017, is the former owner of Blue Heron Restaurant and Catering and a teacher of culinary arts at the Windham Regional Career Center. She is a member of the Women’s Presidents Organization; serves on the Development Committee of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts; and serves on the Culinary Program Advisory Board for both Franklin County Technical School and Holyoke Community College.
Belden and his wife, Betsy, became residents of Loomis Village in South Hadley in 2018. Belden retired in 2006 as the CEO of Community Bank System, a large-scale regional financial institution headquartered in Syracuse, New York. He has served on more than 30 governance boards for both for-profit and not-for-profit entities around the country.